BLADE

Review of Norwegian support to Palestine through Norwegian NGOs

This report presents the outcome of review of the Norwegian support to Palestine through Norwegian Non-Governmental Organisations. The review was commissioned by the Norwegian Agency for development Cooperation (Norad). 
The review assesses the relevance, value added and adaptability of the Norwegian NGO support to the occupied Palestinian territory (oPt) in light of a volatile country environment. A team of six international and Palestinian consultants linked to Nordic Consulting Group undertook the review which included two field visits, one to Jerusalem and the West Bank in May/June 2008 and to Gaza in October 2008. The team conducted individual and group interviews in the Palestinian areas and in Oslo and a comprehensive desk study of available reports, proposals and statistics was undertaken.

Kofi Annan hopeful about Obama administration's engagement with the world

Jan Speed

Kofi Annan, former Secretary-General of the United Nations,  was in Oslo for the 50th anniversary conference of NUPI (Norwegian Institute for International Affairs) and shared his thoughts on Barack Obama's leadership style and the ways in which the new administration is likely to engage with the world.

Climate change: what’s all the fuss about?

 

(Photo credit: G.M.B. Akash)

Alex Kirby, of Panos London provides a good introduction to the issue of climate change.  He looks at the causes of climate change, the likely effects, and various mitigation strategies.  

According to Kirby,  "a serious response to the threat of climate change will need policy choices by and between governments, on both mitigation and adaptation. Preventing climate change is impossible, because the amount of long-lasting greenhouse gases already in the atmosphere means it would continue warming for 30 years or more even if emissions stopped overnight."

Click here to read the full article.

Norway provides humanitarian relief to Gaza

Norway is providing NOK 30 million in immediate humanitarian relief in connection with the assaults in Gaza.

“We are extremely concerned about the precarious humanitarian situation in Gaza,” said Foreign Minister Jonas Gahr Støre.

Imams and rabbis in Paris to promote peace

The Third World Congress of Imams and Rabbis for Peace kicked off yesterday in Paris.  The event is hosted by the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and aims to bolster peace in the Middle East.  

The congress is expected to draw 85 participants, including 45 Palestinian imams, Israeli rabbis and Christians.  Religious leaders and experts from nearly two dozen countries are also expected.

Outcomes are expected to include the adoption of a final declaration and the setting up of a monitoring group to support initiatives promoting peaceful coexistence and dialogue.

Governments sign worldwide ban on cluster bombs in Oslo

Jan Speed and Amila de Saram Larssen

Click below to view a short video about The Ban Bus, a campaign bus that has traveled 10,000 km across Europe to raise awareness about the Convention on Cluster Munitions.  It arrived in Oslo yesterday.

Today is World Aids Day

(Norway's Crown Princess Mette-Marit (second from the left) and Minister Erik Solheim (second from the right))

Amila de Saram Larssen

Click below to hear what Norway's Crown Princess Mette-Marit, Special Representative for UNAIDS; Erik Solheim, Minister of Development and the Environment; and Dr. Sigrun Møgedal, Norway's HIV/AIDS Ambassador had to say about the significance of World Aids Day when I spoke to them at an HIV/AIDS awareness raising event at Youngstorget in Oslo.

The Reality of Aid 2008 report launched in Oslo

(From left to right: Stiaan van der Merwe, Beverly Keene and John Jones)

 

Amila de Saram Larssen

 

The Reality of Aid 2008 Report was presented in Oslo this morning as part of the annual RORG conference 2008.  The report is critical of current development policies and presents the issue of aid effectiveness from a civil society perspective.  

 

The introduction to the report states that, "the reality of aid in 2008 is that it continues to fail to promote human development for the eradication of poverty based on the core values of human rights, democracy, gender equality and environmental sustainability."

 

Filmmaker Philippe Diaz blames the rich for the problems of the poor

Amila de Saram Larssen

In his documentary, "The End of poverty?", Diaz tackles the question of why poverty exists in a world that is filled with so much wealth.

According to Diaz, developed nations are plundering the resources of the planet at a rate that is unsustainable, causing greater and greater poverty.

The End of Poverty? is being screened in Oslo as part of International Week.

Click below to listen to Diaz being interviewed by Jan Speed, editor of bistandsaktuelt.no.

Key documents in formulation of Norwegian development policy

Amila de Saram Larssen

In light of Norway just having reached its goal of allocating 1% of GNI to development activities, I thought it an opportune moment to catalog some of the major policy documents pertaining to the realization of this goal.

Norway's development policies are not to be found in any one specific piece of legislation.  Instead, a series of White Papers and presentations to the Parliament have shaped the country's development agenda.